Updates and Newsletters: The main news stories from the major sources, selected, compiled, and occasionally commented on by Michael Novakhov ("Mike Nova") | Public RSS Feeds on the various topics of Global Security | Topics oriented news reviews

While efforts continue to contain the Ebola outbreak among people in West Africa, researchers have a new technique to study Ebola among the Great Apes. Thousands of the primates are believed to have died from the disease in recent decades. The research could help predict where Ebola outbreaks might occur among humans. Researchers have been studying Ebola in the wild for 30-years, but they say there’s still much they do not know. It’s difficult to safely capture wild animals in...

President Barack Obama took his call for world cooperation against terror, climate change, Ebola and a host of other issues to the United Nations Wednesday, saying the world stands at a crossroads "between war and peace; between disorder and integration; between fear and hope."

DAMASCUS/MURSITPINAR Turkey (Reuters) - American warplanes pounded Islamic State positions in Syria for a second day at a strategic post on the Iraqi border, but the campaign did nothing to halt the fighters' advance on a Kurdish town where refugees are fleeing.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO has observed a significant withdrawal of Russian forces from inside Ukraine, but many Russian troops remain stationed near the border, an alliance military spokesman said on Wednesday.

Refugees from Syria waited at the Turkish border near Sanliurfa, Turkey, on Wednesday. Turkey is wary that the fight against the Islamic State is empowering separatist Kurdish militants on both sides of the border.

According to the most recent Allianz Global Wealth Report, the global middle class is nearing the billion people mark. Significant inequalities though remain in many countries, and data shows important differences within the worlds regions

The global gross financial assets - namely securities, bank deposits, and claims on insurance and pensions - of private households grew by 9.9% in 2013, the highest rate of growth since 2003. This brought total global financial assets up to a new record level of 118 trillion.

Switzerland, the U.S.A. and Belgium are the top-three countries in the world when it comes to net per capita financial assets.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - European police made more than 1,000 arrests this month in a continent-wide sweep against organized crime that netted suspected people traffickers and cocaine smugglers, law enforcement officials said.

Vague wording on national unity in new decree has led to concerns that it will be used to silence journalists and activists

Egyptian rights groups and journalists paid by foreign news outlets fear they are the target of a presidential decree banning the receipt of foreign money for activity deemed harmful to national interests.

The law, issued this week by the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, permits courts to hand down life sentences to anyone judged to be using funding or weapons from overseas to undermine unity.

NATO has observed a significant withdrawal of Russian forces from inside Ukraine, but many Russian troops remain stationed near the border, an alliance military spokesman said on Wednesday. "There has been a significant pullback of Russian conventional forces from inside Ukraine, but many thousands are still deployed in the vicinity of the border,'' Lieutenant-Colonel Jay Janzen said in an e-mailed response to a request from Reuters for comment. "Some Russian troops...

Karzai Takes a Final Swipe at US610kvnuSean Gallup/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai punctuated his contentious relationship with the U.S. Tuesday by claiming that Washington wanted war in his country for its own self-interests. Karzai, who served two terms in ...and more »

By bringing other world leaders to the famous circular arena, Obama seeks to dramatise the urgency of the issue at hand, the threat of the spread in the Middle East of a new extremist group, Islamic State (Isis). The US president is signalling his respect for UN institutions and an emphasis on forging a collective approach to the worlds problems. He is the only American leader to have convened such a meeting, and will now have done it twice. The first time was five years ago when the issue at hand was another global concern at the top of Obamas agenda: nuclear proliferation.

Japan has announced additional sanctions on Russia over unrest in Ukraine and urged Moscow to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the new sanctions will tighten restrictions on arms exports to Russia, as well as ban some Russian banks from issuing securities in Japan. "Japan continues to work together with the G7 nations and the international society to resolve the situation in Ukraine in a peaceful and diplomatic manner," Suga said. Japan has already issued two sets of sanctions on Russia this year, but the latest restrictive measures bring it in line with those laid out by the United States and the European Union in recent weeks. Russia's foreign ministry says it is disappointed with new sanctions imposed by Japan, saying the decision to impose them seems illogical and an "unfriendly step."

Staunton, September 24 – Like its Soviet predecessors, the Putin regime has adopted three strategies in dealing with the non-Russian quarter of the population: increasing repression, divide-and-rule efforts within these communities and among them, and suppressing the dissemination of information about their plight.

But these strategies are proving less effective than they once were, the result of both the willingness and ability of their co-ethnics abroad to speak out about what Moscow is doing and the heroic efforts of the leaders of these suppressed nationalities not only to denounce the Russian government’s actions but also to work together.

This week, Scandinavian and Baltic leaders denounced what Putin is doing with regard to Russia’s indigenous populations.Aili Keskitalo, president of the Norwegian Sami Parliament, told the UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in New York that Moscow’s efforts to block representatives of the numerically small nations from taking part only called attention to “the alarming situation” those peoples now face.

Because of their prominence and because this meeting is taking place under UN auspices in New York, their comments have attracted some attention.But equally important developments in this regard have been taking place among non-Russian groups inside the Russian Federation this week.

“The authorities may not like the political views of the leaders of the Mejlis,” the declaration says, “but political repressions against a public organization are a crime” and thus impermissible.

And four days ago, representatives of the Tatar, Bashkir and Chuvash nationalities met in the town of Arsk in Tatarstan as part of the First Congress of the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation and issued a stinging indictment of what Moscow is doing against their peoples and other non-Russians (tatar-centr.blogspot.com/2014/09/i.html).

Declaring that Moscow is failing to live according to the provisions of the 1993 Russian Constitution regarding the non-Russian peoples, the delegates issued three demands.First, they called for Moscow to allow all non-Russian republics and formations to keep the office of president if they want to.

Second, they demanded that the Chuvash Republic be allowed to restore the provision of its own constitution which specified that Chuvashia is “a state within the Russian Federation.” Earlier, Moscow had insisted that that language be eliminated.

And third, they asked that all indigenous peoples have the right to education in their native languages at all levels and not just within officially recognized republics but wherever they live in compact groups and that such instruction be funded by the Russian government rather than by private groups.

The resolution was signed by leaders of the Tatar Patriotic Front Altyn Urda, the Tatar Social Center, the Tatar Youth Union Azatlyk, the Chuvash Ireklekh Society of National-Cultural Rebirth, the Bashkir Human Rights Movement Kuk Burye, and the Council of Aksakals of Bashkortostan.

Their demands are not radical, and their numbers are not large, but cooperation among these groups provides the basis for greater activism and attention in the future. At the very least, it is an indication that the old Moscow policies of hiding the truth and divide-and-rule aren’t going to work as well in the future as they did in the past.

LONDON – After weeks of largely staying on the sidelines amid a U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State fighters, Britain on Wednesday appeared to be moving toward a more direct military intervention.

A still image captured from U.S. Navy video footage shows a Tomahawk Land-Attack Missile (TLAM) is launched against ISIL targets from the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea in the Arabian Gulf, September 23, 2014.

The UN chief is “aware” that the Syrian government did not directly “request” airstrikes on terrorist targets on their soil and urged all parties involved in the US-led anti-ISIS campaign to take all necessary precautions to minimize civilian casualties.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he is “aware” that the US-led intrusion and airstrikes on Islamic State targets were not carried out “at the direct request of the Syrian Government,” in a statement delivered at a climate summit press conference.

However, he noted that Damascus “was informed beforehand” and that the strikes took place in “areas no longer under the effective control” of the government.

“I regret the loss of any civilian lives as a result of strikes against targets in Syria. The parties involved in this campaign must abide by international humanitarian law and take all necessary precautions to avoid and minimize civilian casualties,” the UN chief added.

In a letter to the UN secretary general, US Ambassador Samantha Power used Article 51 of the UN charter to justify air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, claiming that it was necessary to protect civilians and secure Iraq’s borders.

The US explained that Iraq has “made it clear” that it faces a “serious” threat from the Islamic State militants coming from Syria, a country which Washington says offers “safe havens” for militants.

“These safe havens are used by ISIL (ISIS) for training, planning, financing, and carrying out attacks across Iraqi borders and against Iraq’s people,” the letter reads.

It is because of this threat and at the request of the Iraqi government that the US decided to lead a coalition against Islamic State positions in Syria, “in order to end the continuing attacks on Iraq,” to protect civilians and help Baghdad secure state borders.

Stating that IS poses a dire threat both to the region as well as to the security of the United States, Powers writes that Article 51 of the UN charter provides countries the right to engage in self-defense, including collective self-defense, against an armed attack.

“As is the case here, the government of the State where the threat is located is unwilling or unable to prevent the use of its territory for such attacks,” the letter, dated September 23, reads.

It argues that strikes against ISIS in Syria are justified as the Syrian regime “cannot and will not confront these safe havens effectively itself.”

“Accordingly, the United States has initiated necessary and proportionate military actions in Syria in order to eliminate the ongoing ISIL threat to Iraq.”

In addition, Washington is also conducting military action against Al-Qaeda “elements in Syria known as the Khorasan Group,” which it believes could be responsible for plotting against America and its allies.

The air campaign against the Khorasan extremists was separate from the one targeting the Islamic State group, as the US believes they were close to carrying out “major attacks” against the West.

This US Navy photo shows an an F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 31, and an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213, as they prepare to launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)to conduct strike missions against ISIL targets on September 23, 2014 in the Gulf.

“Intelligence reports indicated that the group was in the final stages of plans to execute major attacks against Western targets and potentially the US homeland,” announced Lt. Gen. William Mayville, director of operations for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He specified that the group is “establishing roots in Syria in order to advance attacks against the West and the homeland.”

Calling the strikes “successful,” Mayville also announced that more than 40 Tomahawk missiles were launched from the Gulf and the Red Sea, saying “the majority of the Tomahawk strikes were against Khorasan.”

Earlier in the day, US President Barack Obama said that he ordered the strikes in Syria to “disrupt plotting against the United States and our allies by seasoned al-Qaeda operatives in Syria, who are known as the Khorasan Group”.

“Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people,” he added.

However, the US airstrikes will not be “effective, if there is no coordination of actions on the ground and if no ground military operations are carried out,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem told RT Arabic.

“The US is mocking the whole world when they say that they are going to coordinate their actions not with the Syrian government, but with the moderate Syrian opposition. This is funny. What moderate opposition are you talking about?” Moualem told RT Arabic. “This moderate opposition is killing Syrians just like al-Nusra or ISIS.”

If the US “seriously wanted to fight the ISIS and other terrorist organizations,” there would be an international organization under the aegis of the UN, in which all countries would participate, Moualem said.

Military aircraft carried out raids against Sunni extremist fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) in northern Syria on Tuesday night.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Wednesday that planes scored hits against ISIS militants near Kobani, which is also known as Ayn al-Arab.

There has so far been no confirmation from the Pentagon that the attacks were carried out by the U.S.-led military coalition that began striking ISIS positions across Syria on Monday night.

The Observatory’s Rami Abdulrahman said that local activists reported that the planes had approached from the Turkish-side of the border. Turkish officials have dismissed that claim, according to the BBC, and denied that Turkish aircraft or the U.S. airbase at Incirlik were used.

Since Friday, close to 140,000 ethnic Kurds from Syria have flooded across the border into southern Turkey, as ISIS forces took surrounding villages and began to tighten their grip on Kobani. Kurdish militia fighters were still in control of the city as of Wednesday morning.

Earlier this week, Melissa Fleming, a spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Geneva that the agency was preparing for the entire 400,000 strong-population of communities in and around Kobani to cross the border.

President Barack Obama goes before the United Nations to deliver a speech Wednesday focusing on the fight against Islamic State militants. Senior administration officials say the president's address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York will highlight efforts to build an international coalition to combat the group that has taken over large areas in Syria and Iraq. Later Wednesday, Obama will chair a U.N. Security Council meeting where members are expected to adopt a resolution...